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Bill 24 passes in Alberta legislature

Nov 15, 2017 | 1:12 PM

EDMONTON — The provincial government has passed the bill aimed at strengthening rules around gay-straight alliances in Alberta schools

Bill 24, tabled by Education Minister David Eggen, passed third reading 42-23 in the legislature Wednesday morning.

The bill stipulates any student that joins a gay-straight alliance in Alberta cannot be outed to their parents by staff or teachers except in special circumstances, such as when a student is under direct threat of harm.

The bill closes loopholes the government says some schools have been using to delay or deny students who try to set up the clubs.

All MLAs from the NDP present in the legislature voted in favour of the motion, along with Greg Clark and Karen McPherson from the Alberta Party, Liberal Party MLA David Swann and independent Richard Starke.

All members of the United Conservative Party present in the legislature, including Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes, voted against the bill. Brooks-Strathmore MLA Derek Fildebrant, who currently sits as an independent, also voted against it.

On Wednesday, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announcing it will represent a group of stakeholders in court to challenge the constitutionality of Bill 24.

The amendments would come into force by April 1, 2018. School authorities will have until June 30, 2018 to make their safe and caring policies publicly available.